Latch.



T. B. STEVENS. LATCH.

(Application filed Jan. 1'7, 1901.)

No. 690,20I. Patented Dec. 3|, l90l.

(No Mod 51.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE B. STEVENS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO HARVEY H. BROWN.

LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Ne. 690,201, dated December 3i, 190i.

Application filed January 17, 1901. steam. 43,574. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEODORE B. STEVENS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Latches for Doors, Windows, &c., of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to a door-latch, the object being to provide a cheap and simple latch which when the door is closed will antomatically latch the same and which may be subsequently manipulated to force the door as tightly as desired against the jamb. The described latch is particularly adapted for use on refrigerators and analogous structures whose efficiency is dependent upon the tight- 'ness with which the doors are closed.

The invention lies in a certain construction and combination of parts more fully described hereinafter and definitely set forth in the claims. 1 p In the drawings, which fully illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective of the latch and a part of a door and frame, showing the parts in position when the door is closed. Fig. 2 is a view showing the latch in plan, the door and its jamb being in section and the door ajar. Fig. 3 is a vertical central section through parts of the latch and the door-jamb, the door being in closed position. Fig. 4: is an elevation of the rear side of the bracket which fastens to the jamb of the door.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a modified form- 'of a latch. Fig. 6 further shows this form of my invention, the view being a vertical section through the door-jamb and the bracket carried by the door, the bracket carried by the jamb shown in elevation.

I shall now refer to the parts particularly by reference characters.

In the best construction the latch consists of three pieces on1yviz., the casing A, the wedge block B, and the latch receiving bracket 0, each of which may be cast in substantially the form shown.

The bracket 0 is designed to be secured to the door-jamb near its edge, preferably by a single screw D, which passes through a vertical slot 0 in the back plate 0, which back plate may have on its rear side one or more vertical sharpened ribs 0 which will be forced into the wood of the door and prevent any tendency of the bracket to turn upon the screw as a pivot. This bracket is provided, essentially, with a forwardly-projecting arm 0 having a rearwardly-faced shoulder 0 with which the front part of the wedge-block B may engage. In the construction shown in Fig. 1 there are two of these arms, which are parallel to each other and have on their proximate faces, near their outer ends, the inwardly-extended lugs 0 Whose rear faces form the shoulders 0 previously referred to, and the upper and inner sides of the arms are rounded or beveled, as at c 0 to guide the wedge-block into latching position.

The casing A is to be fastened to the door preferably by means of two screws passing through a horizontal slot at in a lateral extension a of the back plate of said casing, which casing occupies a position which is directly over the bracket 0. The casing has two ears (H, which project forward from the back plate and are preferably made integral therewith, and in the sides of these ears are openings a capable of receiving the ends of laterally-projecting pins a, which pins support the wedgeblock B, which latter is thus loosely suspended from the casing and capable of rising relative thereto sufficiently to pass over the shoulder of the receiving-bracket O. The wedge-block B is preferably oval-shaped, although this particular wedge shape is not an essential characteristic. In the best construction these pins at are integral parts of the Wedge-block and are located near the upper or large end thereof. In this construction the pins are short, and the ears a may be sprung apart sufiiciently to permit themto be passed between the ears and into the openings a therein. Secured to the small end of this wedge-block is an arm or handle I), having several independent functions. Its weight insures that the Wedge-block shall always hang with its small end down; It serves as a handle wherewith the wedge-block may be drawn down, with the result to be presently explained, and it also serves as a handle wherewith to lift said wedge-block to unlatch the door. It is of such width that it may pass between the two sides of the bracket 0 and of such length that it extends below them. The thickness of the wedge-block is such that its front and rear sides engage, respectively, with the shoulders c and the back plate a of the casing A, near the lower edge thereof. 7

The operation of the described latch is as follows: When the door is closed, this wedgeblock strikes the front face of the bracket and is turned and lifted thereby, whereby it may pass over the top of the bracket-arms when the door is closed. It is then turned by the weight of the arm, which tends to assume a pendent vertical position and drops down between the back plate of the casing and said shoulder a on the bracket. The inclination of the sides of the wedge-block is veryslight, so slight, in fact, that a push upon the door from the rear side or a pull from the front side without lifting the latch will not dislodge the wedge-block from its described latching position. The weight of the handle of the wedge-block will cause said wedge-block to set itself snugly between the casing and bracket, as described, and will to some extent draw the door toward the jamb, so as to prevent any movement of the door or of the wedge-block due to any jars or vibration of the door. If, however, the door is not there by closed tightly enough, one may take hold of the handle and by drawing it downward wedge the door tightly closed. This result is measurably assisted by the fact that that part of the back plate of the casing which overhangs the door-jamb is notin the same plane with the back surface ofthe lateral extension aofsaid plate,but has a slight oifset,as shown, and hence does not contact with said doorjamb. It therefore has some little spring action under the influence of the wedge which assists in holding the door tightly closed.

There are certain modifications which may be made in the construction described without omitting the essential features of the invention. For example,the handle b,attached to the wedge-block, may be in the form of a ring b,adapted to pass around the arm or arms of the bracket, as shown in Fig. 5. Vhen the latchis of this form, the bracket may have only one forwardly-projecting arm a with a shoulder a for engaging the wedgeeblock, as shown in Fig. 5. The supports for the wedgeblock may be ends of a pin bipassing through the Wedge block, in which case the hole through which it passes may be very much larger than the pin. In that event the openings in the sides of the casing A are preferably made in the form of curved slots a, and the ends of the pin are provided with heads too large to pass through said slots.

I claim 1. In a latch, the combination of a bracket adapted to be secured to a door or window frame and having a forwardly-extended arm on which is a rearwardly-faced shoulder, with a casing adapted to be secured to the door or window in a position to overhang said bracket when the door or window is closed, and a Wedge-block having a weighted handle adapted to bring the small end into the lowermost position, said wedge-block being loosely suspended from said casing, substantially as specified,whereby,- as the door is closing, said wedge-block will engage with said bracketarm and be lifted thereby, and,when the door is closed, said wedge-block will drop with its small end down behind the shoulder on said arm.

2. In a latch, the combination of a bracket, adapted to be secured to a door-jamb, and havinga forwardly-extended arm upon which is a rearwardly-faced shoulder, with a casing adapted to be secured to a door and to overhang said bracket, said casing having two forwardly-extended ears with holes in them, a wedge-block suspended between said ears, and pins rigidly fastened to the sides of said wedge-block and entering the holes in said ears whereby the wedge-block is supported, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a latch, the combination of a bracket, adapted to be secured to a door-jamb, and havinga forwardly-extended arm upon which is a rearwardly-faced shoulder, with a casing adapted to be secured to a door and to overhang said bracket, said casing having two forwardly-extended ears with'holes in them, a wedge-block suspended between said ears, and having a handle secured to its small end, and a pin entering the holes in said ears and supporting said wedge-block, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. In alatch, the combination of a bracket adapted to be secured to a door-jamb, and having a forwardly-extended arm upon which is a rearwardly-faced shoulder, with a casing adapted to be secured to a door and to overhang said bracket, said casing having two forwardly-extended ears with holes in them, a wedge-block having suspension-pins extending from its sides and near its upper end," which pins engage in the holes in the ears of the casing whereby the wedge-block is suspended, and a handle secured to the small end of said wedge-block, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. In a latch, the combination of a bracket, adapted to be secured to a door-jamb, and having two forwardly-extended parallel arms, which are provided on their proximate faces, near their outer ends, with lugs whose rear faces form shoulders, with a casing'having two forwardly-extended perforated ears, and a lateral extension of the back plate whereby it may be attached to the door, and a wedgeblock having, near its larger end, laterallyextended suspension-pins which engage in the holes in the ears of the casing, and a handle secured to the small end of said wedgeblock, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. In a latch, the combination of a bracket adapted to be secured to a door-jamb, and

having a forwardly-extended arm on which is its small end, substantially as and for the pura rearwardly-faced shoulder, with a casing pose specified. 10 having a lateral extension of its back plate, In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my which extensionis offset, and having also two signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

forwardly-extended perforated ears, and an THEODORE B. STEVENS. oval wedge-block having laterally-extended Witnesses: v pins which enter the perforations in the ears ALBERT H. BATES,

of the casing, and having a handle secured to 1 H. M. WISE. 

